Royal Artillery Mounted Rifles

The final year of the Second Boer War (1899–1902) was characterised by guerrilla warfare fought between mounted Boer commandos and British mobile columns.[1] With little use for heavy calibre weaponry in such an environment both sides stood down much of their artillery units.[2] With a large number of artillerymen gathering at depots awaiting return to England or deployment on garrison duty in India, British commander Lord Kitchener decided to form them into units of mounted infantry.[2] The artillerymen were suited to this task as they were trained to a good standard of horsemanship and tended to be of above average intelligence and discipline.[1][2] Additional rifle shooting practice was arranged for the men, as this was not usually a core aspect of their training.[2][3]

The Royal Artillery Mounted Rifles were formed into independent columns of around 750 men commanded by a Royal Artillery lieutenant-colonel.[2] One such column was commanded by Thomas Baldock, who would later become a Major-General.[4] In addition to mounted infantry the columns contained a light pom-pom artillery unit and their own signals and scout sections.[2] The men were not issued with swords and so relied on rifles with fixed bayonets when required to carry out cavalry-style charges.[5] The units remained under the administration of the Royal Regiment of Artillery who retained responsibility for forming and equipping the units, supply, remounts, staffing and signals.[6]

The columns were particularly active in the final six months of the war during which time they undertook many long distance "drives" to clear the countryside of Boer guerrillas.[1] The units were so successful that Kitchener requested a further 1,000 gunners from the Indian government to deploy in the role; this was refused but a comparable number of artillerymen were instead supplied by the British Army.[2] By the end of the war around 2,000 artillery personnel were serving as mounted infantry.[2]

At the time they were formed, British General Ian Hamilton stated that the artillerymen were keen to carry out their new role.[3] However, Colonel H. Rowan-Robinson, writing in 1921, claimed that the decision was viewed with horror by a large number of the artillerymen due to the unconventional nature of the deployment.[7]

The concept was revived in the early 1920s during and immediately after the Irish War of Independence, another largely-guerrilla war. The bulk of the 30th (Howitzer) Brigade Royal Field Artillery and 36th Brigade Royal Field Artillery, attached to the 5th Infantry Division, were deployed as mounted rifles or else as composite artillery/infantry units. For a brief period in early 1922 they reverted to the traditional artillery role. The I Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery also deployed to Ireland as mounted infantry while the 33rd Brigade Royal Field Artillery operated as a mixed armoured car/infantry unit.[10]